‘It’s really happening’: tears of joy as space mission nears Cornwall launch

Squadron leader and Virgin Orbit pilot Matthew Stannard says: ‘In a couple of weeks this area will be a launchpad that will put something into orbit.’ Photograph: Jonny Weeks/The Guardian

The notion of a space mission being launched from a nondescript corner of a Cornish airport – next to the bus depot actually – has attracted its fair share of scepticism over the years.

But the impressive touchdown in north Cornwall this week of a Boeing 747 converted to carry a rocket primed to propel satellites into space may have silenced even the most hardened doubters.